NBAA working with FAA to ensure ADS-B flight-tracking Opt-Out continues

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Given the long-standing recognition by government and industry of the need to maintain in-flight security, NBAA is working with the FAA and other stakeholders to identify the most effective means to ensure that operators continue to have the ability to opt out from having their flights tracked in real time, following a conversation many aircraft will make to new ADS-B technology, starting Jan. 1, 2020.

NBAA – through its involvement with the FAA’s Equip 2020 working group, as well as engagement with the FAA’s Surveillance and Broadcast Services, System Wide Information Management and System Operations Services groups – is working with the agency and other general aviation associations to develop an opt-out solution, based on providing operators an alternate 24-bit ICAO (Mode S transponder) code.

Under this solution, operators would retain their permanent transponder code tied to an aircraft’s N-number, but would also be able to use a secondary, non-published code, assigned and managed by the FAA, which would not link to the specific aircraft tail number. It is expected that operators could request a new secondary code at least once every 30 days.

The addition of this new, secondary ICAO code program to the existing FAA Blocked Aircraft Registration Request (BARR) program would address not only what information managed by FAA is shared under BARR, but also the data transmitted by the aircraft itself to determine its identification throughout the NAS. While private ADS-B receivers could still detect an aircraft flying overhead, they would not see any information allowing them to match that aircraft to the owner listed in the FAA Registry.

“Everyone agrees that a person shouldn’t need to give up his or her security when boarding an airplane,” said NBAA President and CEO Ed Bolen. “We remain committed to working with the FAA and others to ensure that operators are given an ability to opt out from having their flights tracked in real time, basically by anyone, anywhere in the world, who happens to have the appropriate equipment for doing so, and whose intentions may be unknown.”

Since 2000, Congress has repeatedly passed legislation mandating that the FAA provide a means for opting out from real-time flight tracking, regardless of the technology involved. While such a provision has long been in effect in the U.S., it does not necessarily apply to international flights.

 

“FAA Publishes New 2020 ADS-B Pre-Flight Policy”

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When the FAA’s ADS-B Out regulation becomes effective next year, operators will need to predict the availability of the GPS constellation along their planned route and comply with a number of operational stipulations the FAA has outlined in its newly published policy on pre-flight performance requirements.

The new policy comes six months prior to the Jan. 1, 2020 ADS-B Out airspace mandate taking effect. Under the new policy, the FAA is requiring operators to assess how their aircraft’s position-reporting avionics will perform along their filed flight plans.

In the pre-flight planning process, the FAA is requiring pilots to use a preflight availability prediction tool to asses whether or not their aircraft’s GPS receivers can meet the navigation integrity category (NIC) performance requirements outlined by the technical standard order used by the agency to define the accuracy of position reporting equipment. NIC refers to the containment radius around an aircraft’s reported position, which must be accurate within less than 0.2 nautical miles of its actual airborne position.

Under the new policy, the FAA is specifically targeting operators of aircraft GPS receivers that are not wide area augmentation system (WAAS) compatible. Operators who equip with non-WAAS receivers are more likely to experience performance outages that limit their access to the airspace defined in the rule.

When assessing the GPS performance for their intended flight plan, if an operator determines that the predicted performance will support the proposed flight, the FAA will require the pilot to adjust the route to avoid the area where degraded performance could occur.

“After an operator receives a satisfactory preflight availability prediction for an intended operation, there may be certain conditions that warrant a subsequent prediction. For example, a change in departure time or a change in the GPS satellite constellation as indicated by a Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) may have an effect on the predicted GPS performance for the intended operation,” the policy statement said.

There is also an acknowledgement by the FAA regarding its Exemption 12555 policy, a one-time grant of exemption for aircraft from 14 CFR § 91.227 requirements for operators using GPS receivers when their performance falls below the requirement and backup surveillance is unavailable. The FAA established that exemption to address the performance characteristics associated with the three different variants of GPS receivers that are currently found in air transport category aircraft.

Operators that have qualified for Exemption 12555 do not need to perform a preflight availability prediction. Those who fall outside of the exemption and are flying aircraft with GPS receivers that do not meet the necessary NIC and NAC performance requirements must use either their own preflight availability prediction tool or the FAA’s Service Availability Prediction Tool (SAPT).

Additionally, when pilots receive NOTAMS indicating that planned government GPS interference testing impacting ADS-B Out airspace occurs, they will not require operators to avoid that airspace. A technical evaluation of such occurrences by the agency determined that they have no way of guaranteeing whether an aircraft flying through affected airspace would actually experience GPS performance degradation.

The new pre-flight policy is the latest in a series of new guidelines established by the FAA to help airspace users transition from relying on ground-based radar to ADS-B as the primary air traffic surveillance source in the U.S. In April, a new policy for non-equipped aircraft was published noting that air traffic controllers will only approve non-ADS-B flights when they’re convenient. Avionics manufacturers and installation facilities have also been working to ensure operators know how to deal with ADS-B failures.

As the 2020 mandate draws closer, the commercial airline segment of the U.S. flying community appears to be on track to have nearly all of their aircraft requiring upgrades equipped. The general aviation community remains the lowest equipped segment, with the U.S. registered helicopter fleet remaining the lowest equipped segment.

 

“FAA Issues Update on Unleded AVGAS Research”

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A fuel under evaluation as a replacement for leaded avgas for the 170,000 aircraft in the piston-powered general aviation fleet will need “additional refinement,” and three new fuels have undergone preliminary testing in 2019, the FAA said in an update on its Piston Aviation Fuels Initiative.

AOPA participates in the PAFI program as a member of the PAFI Steering Group (PSG), and supports the ultimate goal of approving a high-octane, unleaded avgas that will be “environmentally safer than leaded fuels, yet as operationally safe as leaded fuels in the current fleet of piston engine aircraft.” In October 2018 the FAA had forecast a completion-of-testing target date of mid-2020. The timeline estimate was based on testing a fuel under development by Shell—now the lone participant in the PAFI process after another entrant, Swift Fuels, withdrew. At the outset of the PAFI process in 2014, 17 fuels had been submitted for analysis, which the program “screened down” after a rigorous evaluation process.

According to the June 2019 program update, “PAFI’s focus during the first 6 months of 2019 has included testing at the William J. Hughes Technical Center of an optimized Shell fuel and screening testing of 3 fuels not previously part of the PAFI program. The scope of PAFI has continued to evolve with the preliminary evaluation of 3 other fuels representing PAFI’s commitment to research and evaluate all candidate unleaded fuels. Test results with the optimized Shell fuel were not successful with testing indicating additional refinements are required.”

As the program to bring about a safe transition to an unleaded avgas has evolved, experience “has served to accentuate the extent of the challenge to identify an acceptable unleaded fuel for general aviation. Accordingly, it is recognized that the scope of PAFI must expand to support the necessary research and development while engaging other candidate fuels for evaluation,” the FAA said, calling for continued support for PAFI as “a collaborative government and industry process.”

The FAA update concluded by noting that “the FAA and industry members of the PAFI Steering Group continue to work with multiple fuel offerors to find the very best unleaded avgas solution for the GA fleet.” It said its determination to find an environmentally friendly fuel has not wavered, “regardless of the amount of time and effort it may take to achieve.”

Airlines Avoid Iran Airspace After FAA Order

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US Federal Aviation Administration, The FAA, has issued an emergency order prohibiting US carriers from flying in the over water area of Iranian airspace until further notice.

The main reason for this decision is the escalation of tensions and military activity within close proximity to high volume civil aircraft routes, as well as Iran’s willingness to use long-range missiles in international airspace.

Below is the full statement from The FAA:

The FAA

@FAANews
#FAA issued #NOTAM warning pilots that flights are not permitted in the overwater area of the Tehran Flight Information Region until further notice, due to heightened military activities and increased political tensions. https://twitter.com/FAANews/status/1141915586987012103 …

The FAA

@FAANews
#FAA Statement: The FAA has issued a Notice to Airmen (#NOTAM) prohibiting U.S.-registered aircraft from operating over the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman. The NOTAM applies to all U.S. air carriers and commercial operators.

11:53 AM – Jun 21, 2019
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United Airlines has suspended all flights between New Jersey’s Newark airport and both Indian cities, New Delhi and Mumbai, until at least September 1st.

“Given current events in the Middle East and the continued closure of Pakistani airspace, we have decided to suspend our service between EWR and Mumbai and New Delhi in India, resuming on Sept. 1, 2019.”

The U.S. ban does not apply to airlines from other countries, but OPSGROUP, which provides guidance to operators, said carriers globally would take it into consideration.

Airlines like British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Lufthansa, Emirates Airlines, Etihad Airways, Malaysia Airlines, Singapore Airlines, Qantas, and KLM said they will re-route their flights to avoid the area.

Sam Chui recently flew Singapore Airlines flight SQ345 from Zurich to Singapore. The flight had an almost 2 hour delay in departure due to the latest Middle East conflict and air traffic clearance in the Middle East. The flight track on the left photo took place on 22/04/19 and the one on the right photo on 22/06/19. The current flight route is avoiding flying over the Persian Gulf.

We Are Proud of Our Team!

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We are extremely proud to announce that the Cincinnati Municipal Airport FCT has been named the 2018 Willie F. Card Contract Tower Service Award winner! Air Traffic Manager, Andy Reynolds and his team have consistently and solidly represented the facility, the airport and Midwest ATC. Great job, Team!

Westmoreland air show will feature Pearl Harbor simulation

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Arnold Palmer Regional Airport will recall the “date which will live in infamy” — the Pearl Harbor attack that brought the United States into World War II — when it hosts performances by the Texas-based Commemorative Air Force during the 2019 Shop ‘n Save Westmoreland County Airshow.

The show will be Memorial Day weekend, May 25-26, at the Unity airport.

Combining a simulated aerial attack by replica Japanese warplanes with explosive effects on the ground, the “Tora! Tora! Tora!” program will return to the local air show for the first time since 1983.

“This is something we’ve been wanting to do for a long time,” said Gabe Monzo, executive director of the Westmoreland County Airport Authority, which operates the airport. “We were just never able to get the scheduling to work out. But this time it just clicked, and it’s going to be amazing.”

The program based on the pivotal Dec. 7, 1941, attack began in 1972, with six replica Japanese aircraft that had been used in filming the eponymous war movie.

Most of the aircraft are trainer planes that were modified to resemble Japanese “Zero” attack planes or bombers, according to program spokesman Bill Mount.

To accompanying narration, “aircraft will be flying overhead in multiple patterns,” he said. “You have fighter aircraft, torpedo bombers and dive bombers all criss-crossing and occupying the same space.”

More than 60 pyrotechnic effects will simulate machine gun fire, bombs and torpedoes. “The finale is a wall of fire,” Mount said.

“It’s a 1,000-foot wall of fire. You’ll feel the heat,” Monzo promised. “It’s truly a spectacle.”

“It’s going to be quite a different air show,” said Don Rossi, chairman of the county airport authority.

A vintage B-17 bomber also will take part in the program.

The performance is presented as a living history lesson meant to honor soldiers on both sides of the conflict who gave their lives for their countries.

“We’re honoring the people that let us live the life we’re living now,” Rossi said of America’s World War II forces.

A memorial service is being planned for the second day of the air show.

VIP tickets for the show cost $150 for adults or $50 for ages 6-12 accompanied by an adult. They will be available at palmerairport.com beginning Dec. 1.

The VIP ticket includes free parking, cart and limousine service to a VIP tent, an air-conditioned private rest room, a commemorative program and food and soft drinks.

General admission tickets will go on sale in February at $25. The tickets will be available for $15 at Shop ‘n Save supermarkets.

This year’s air show was held July 28-29.

Jeff Himler is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Jeff at 724-836-6622, [email protected] or via Twitter @jhimler_news.

To view the original article click here: 

Why airlines are happy settling for stability after high hopes at start of Trump administration

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by Conor Shine and Tom Benning

Dallas News: Oct 8, 2018

On Feb. 9, 2017, CEOs from the country’s largest airlines met with President Donald Trump at the White House, optimistic about advancing several of their priorities — from air traffic control reform to cracking down on unfair foreign competition — under the new administration.

Twenty months later, with Congress putting the finishing touches last week on a sweeping aviation policy and spending bill, airlines’ lofty aspirations have largely been grounded.

The bipartisan five-year bill’s defining feature is the stability and consistency it will provide to the aviation industry after years of repeated short-term extensions that accomplished little beyond keeping the lights on at the Federal Aviation Administration and other federal agencies like the Transportation Security Administration.

“This provides five years of stable funding and the ability for the administration to really invest in its programs without concern about the next reauthorization bill,” said Paul Lewis, vice president of policy at the nonprofit Eno Center for Transportation. “In terms of policy, there are a few changes, but nothing super-dramatic.”

The result is a muted victory, one that stands in contrast to the major wins scored by the oil and gas business, the telecom sector and other industries amid a deregulatory gusher opened by Trump.

While the legislation failed to advance the airline industry’s long-held goal of spinning off the country’s air traffic control system from the FAA into a private, nonprofit corporation, several other provisions loathed by airline executives didn’t make it into the final bill.

Those included a call to regulate fees for things like checked bags and seat assignments, as well as a push to increase the cap on airport fees used to fund construction. In their place are a number of smaller changes, covering issues from pets to cellphone calls to airplane seat sizes.

It’s not the dramatic action that, just last year, seemed to have the political winds at its back.

“I’m disappointed that with a Republican Congress and a Republican administration, we didn’t make better progress with the FAA reform,” Southwest Airlines CEO Gary Kelly said recently, referring to the air traffic control privatization push.

Carriers haven’t come up totally empty-handed in the Trump era, as they have joined other businesses in enjoying steep tax cuts passed last year.

Airlines have also praised the Trump administration for brokering an agreement calling for more transparency from three Middle Eastern carriers that some U.S. airlines have said receive unfair subsidies from their home countries. But even that success has been limited in scope, with American Airlines CEO Doug Parker suggesting last month that one of the carriers was already “cheating” on the non-binding agreement.

Airlines in D.C.

Mere passage of an FAA reauthorization bill, which was signed into law by Trump on Friday, is also no small achievement.

The legislation has drawn broad support from across the aviation industry, including commercial airlines, their employees, general aviation operators and safety groups. Even consumer watchdogs found things to like in the final package, despite their calls for further passenger protections.

The new rules prohibit putting pets in overhead bins, ban cellphone calls in the cabin and prod the FAA to set minimum sizes for seats. The bill also touches on broader aviation issues, including continued work on integrating unmanned drones into the national airspace.

Five key elements of the FAA bill

  1. It orders the FAA to establish minimum airplane seat sizes.
  2. It prods the feds to create “reasonable” rules to ensure fliers aren’t improperly classifying their pets as “service animals.”
  3. It prevents airlines from bumping already-boarded passengers to accommodate other fliers.
  4. It ensures that flight attendants get at least 10 hours of rest between their shifts.
  5. It makes it illegal to put an animal in a plane’s overhead bin.

Source: House Transportation Committee.

The bill’s overall shape shows the aviation sector is a serious player in Washington. It’s spent more than $46 million on lobbying and nearly $7 million on political action committee donations to candidates so far this year, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

But the months spent playing defense against various proposals to re-regulate aspects of the industry, and the fact that their top priority of air traffic control reform failed to get a floor vote  in the House or Senate, highlight the challenges airlines and their lobbyists face on Capitol Hill.

Original article can be viewed at:

https://www.dallasnews.com/business/airlines/2018/10/07/airlines-high-hopes-trump-administration-meet-grounded-reality-new-faa-bill

Kandahar World’s Busiest Single Runway Airport

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Originally Published by Av.Stop.com

This is an article from several years ago that demonstrates how our Midwest ATC team gets the job done!

September 10, 2009, With the increase in forces in southern Afghanistan, Kandahar Airfield has become the busiest single-runway airport in the world.

Peaking in late May at an estimated 5,500 flights per week, the airfield has maintained more than 5,000 flights per week through June and July, said Col. Bill Buckey, the airfield’s operations officer, a Marine augmented to NATO’s International Security Assistance Force.

Previously, the busiest single-runway airport in the world was the London Gatwick Airport, averaging around 5,000 flights per week.
Marine Attack Squadron 214 “Black Sheep” and Marine Aerial Refueler Transport Squadron 352 Detachment A, both with Marine Aircraft Group 40, Marine Expeditionary Brigade-Afghanistan, are the only Marine aviation units solely based here.

Controlling the heavy amount of air traffic is Midwest Air Traffic Control, a contracted company from Kansas City, Mo., said Buckey, who is serving a six-month tour in Afghanistan’s second-largest city.

“This is the first time NATO has ever owned a base this big. It’s really amazing how everyone is cooperating. I’m pretty impressed,” said Buckey, a native of Sacramento, Calif.

The total flights at Kandahar are also higher than some of the busiest airports in the world per runway.

London Heathrow Airport averages 4,600 flights per runway per week and Charles de Gaulle International Airport in Paris averages 2,700 flights per runway per week.

The numbers are skewed because unlike civilian airports, Kandahar has military fixed and rotary wing aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles as well as civilian flights and light civil aircraft, said Buckey, who is also a trained F/A-18 Hornet pilot.

As operations in southern Afghanistan continue, the tempo for Kandahar Airfield will continue in order to provide aerial support to the International Security Assistance Force’s counterinsurgency mission.

Time Beginning To Run Short for Long-term FAA Bill

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by Kerry Lynch – August 27, 2018, 10:12 AM AIN Online

As time begins to run out on the FAA’s current authorization, prospects are increasing that Congress will pass another short-term extension with action on a full bill put off until after the November elections. The agency is currently operating on a short-term extension that runs through the end of September.

The House passed its comprehensive five-year bill in April, but the Senate has yet to bring its version to the floor for a vote. Senate Republican leaders still are hopeful to begin consideration of the bill shortly; Sen. John Thune (R-South Dakota) said last week that he is not yet planning for an extension, according to Washington insider publication Politico.

The Senate for weeks has been wading through possible amendments that could be added to the bill and is believed to be close, maybe down to the last dozen. With a limit on the number of amendments, lawmakers are anticipating that the FAA bill could be completed in as little as a day on the Senate floor.

But with just a little more than a month left, finding that day is becoming more problematic, industry sources fear, particularly with numerous nominations, including to the U.S. Supreme Court, before the Senate and funding bills yet to be completed.

Even if the Senate were to take up its version of the bill, it would still need to be reconciled with the House version and return to both chambers for a vote.

Earlier this month 33 aviation organizations urged Senate leaders to take action soon, calling passage of a long-term bill essential to maintaining the safest, most efficient aerospace system in the world. House Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman Bill Shuster (R-Pennsylvania) has also stressed a need for Senate action short-term.

Most agree that the prospects for final passage remain strong. The bill has wide support in the Senate, and most controversial issues have been ironed out. Also, the Senate leadership has acknowledged the need for passage of a long-term bill. But the question remains whether that can happen in the next month.

https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/business-aviation/2018-08-27/time-beginning-run-short-long-term-faa-bill#

The role of automation in air traffic control

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by Joe Baker

A wave of automated technologies is helping make air traffic control operations safer and more efficient, but how exactly do these technologies work?

Automation is hardly a new concept for the aviation industry. For several years, on-board datalink systems have transmitted aircraft information to ground control centres, while autopilot is routinely used to direct flights. Singapore’s Changi Airport recently pumped investment into automation at its newly opened Terminal 4, which features so many ‘do-it-yourself’ systems for passengers that human employees are now an unexpected sight.

In the world of air traffic control (ATC), a series of automated solutions are deployed to provide controllers with more accurate information earlier, help increase visibility at airports, and enhance communications with pilots. Communication, navigation and surveillance tools help ATC controllers to fulfil their primary responsibility of preventing collisions between aircraft.

Nevertheless, as these tools become more and more vital to safety and increased efficiency, the industry is asking questions about the controller’s role and how this is both positively and negatively impacted by the increasing role of automation.

Enhancing visibility for controllers

UK air navigation services provider NATS tracks and controls aircraft moving through airspaces across more than 30 countries worldwide, including 14 airports in Britain. With the number of flights handled increasing exponentially every year, the pressure is also rising for controllers. This creates a higher potential for human error and makes the role of automated assistance even more important.

“If you’ve got a very high workload, then you are more likely to make a mistake, miss information or do something that you shouldn’t do,” says NATS head of human factors Neil May. “Equally, if you’ve got a very low workload, the chances of you making a mistake are higher. So what we try and do is keep the workload within appropriate bounds.”

May cites visibility as an area where automation systems currently provide a major boost. An ATC tower window serves as the main source of information to controllers while they give clearances to aircraft landing, taking off, or taxiing to and from the stand. Nevertheless, obstacles such as hangars and stands, poor weather conditions, and runways that stretch into the horizon can make their job more difficult.

Controllers therefore use radar displays to supplement their awareness. Automated warnings, such as those provided by a short-term conflict alert system, let the controller know automatically if an aircraft or vehicle is attempting to enter a runway when it is already occupied.

However, the introduction of remote digital towers – already seen at the UK’s London City and Singapore’s Changi airports – is helping to further enhance visibility. Airports can now erect camera masts and microphones that transmit data to a separate control centre, which can sometimes be hundreds of miles away. Once the view of the airfield is stitched back together in the form of a live image, this can be augmented with operational data such as radar tags, which can be placed on individual aircraft and show the location of closed taxiways.

May says that control tower assistants, which currently carry out a number of roles, could also have their workload reduced by automation. For example, assistants at London Heathrow operate runway lighting panels at night to taxi aircraft – a role that requires constant vigilance to ensure that aircraft don’t head down the same taxiway at once. An automated system, May adds, could help work out the best possible routes for aircraft at night.

“That will provide us with efficiency benefits because we can use that system to work out more accurately how long it takes an aircraft to taxi from stands to holding points,” he says. “There are going to be environmental benefits from doing that, because it means that aircraft will have their engines running for shorter times.”

Speeding up ATC operations

In the past, commercial aircraft passing through the majority of airports would be tracked by flight progress strips containing vital information about each aircraft, including call signs, speed, altitude and destinations. However, these strips are steadily bowing out in light of more digital tracking methods.

In the UK, NATS has been steadily deploying its extended computer display system (ECDS), which recreates the strips used by controllers in an electronic format. While moving aircraft from one airspace to another used to require a telephone conversation, this process is now automated, reducing workload and increasing capacity.

In March 2015, London Heathrow became the first airport in the UK to start using time-based separation procedures for aircraft, which are usually required to fly a certain distance apart. With the new system, computer-generated indicators are projected onto a radar during an aircraft’s final approach to provide controllers with better guidance on minimum separation limits during strong headwinds.

“The benefit is that we can get more aircraft landing in a certain amount of time than we were previously when we were limited by the distance between the two aircraft,” says May. “This means that there are less delays and cancellations for passengers and the airport can continue to run very close to normal, even in high-wind situations.”

Separation methods also form part of the US Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) NextGen programme. The FAA is currently deploying two main automation systems across its ATC centres, including the Standard Terminal Automation and Replacement System (STARS) and En Route Automation Modernization (ERAM).

Currently operational at control centres near some of the US’s biggest airports, STARS offers enhanced tracking of aircraft through automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast systems, as well as a data block feature that automatically lists the number of aircraft in airspaces.

“I think what you see now is the first time we’ve actually got the wherewithal to integrate decisions that are not just local but they can have implications regionally,” says Steve Bradford, chief scientist for architecture and NextGen development at the FAA.

Risk of automation in ATC

While automation is already providing operational benefits for controllers, any move to introduce further automation comes with its risks. May says that one of the biggest problems with automation is that it can fail, and it’s therefore necessary for the system to make clear to operators when it has malfunctioned (and for controllers to recognise when this has happened).

Launching new systems is a case of ensuring controllers are trained properly to use it, and that safety nets are in place if things go wrong. For remote digital towers, May says that NATS ensures that there is dual and triple redundancy in everything it does, and that there are multiple camera systems and methods for data to enter the control room.

“If you’re going to give the controller information to use, we need to train them on how to use and manipulate [this] information,” says Bradford. “We can apply the software more quickly than we do, but we take the time to train facilities [to use them].”

Could air traffic controllers be replaced by automated systems altogether one day? Both experts say that although the systems are proven to increase efficiency, for the next 20 years at least, humans will remain in charge.

“I think we can reduce the load on the controller and perhaps makes things more efficient but we’ll always have controllers,” says Bradford.

Article Originally Posted on:

The role of automation in air traffic control